Moritz Grossmann - Manufacture report

[unknown]

This is a report from 2 weeks ago
Only in English, I understand german but really can't write it :-)

I hope you don't mind and still enjoy it


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Just back from a magnificent Manufacture visit. As most of you know it's not my first one and it won't be my last one I hope. This time not to Switzerland but to Germany. And when talking about Germany I'm sure most will immediately think about Glashütte. And indeed, Glashütte was the town to visit. The town well known as the cradle of German watchmaking. I believe there are 9 or 10 watch manufactures in the little but beautiful town. Most well known are of course Lange & Söhne and Glashütte original. Most others are also nice but not haute horlogerie brands like Tutima, Nomos, ...

The smallest and youngest is Moritz Grossmann and that was the manufacture I wanted to visit. I met their CEO Christine Hutter for the first time a couple of weeks ago at in dinner in Brussels. We had a great talk and not much later she invited me for a manufacture visit. Anyway, what I saw weeks ago in Brussels was so nice and so well made I needed to see the manufacture. Weeks ago I took some pics of these watches but I wanted to make a more interesting report about the manufacture so that's why I didn't tell anything yet about the watches 6 weeks ago.

So Thursday we took the plane to Dresden and not much later a nice BMW 7-series picked us up at the airport to drive us to our hotel.

Arrived at the hotel Bülow





I found this schedule in my room



So the next day the same 7-series picked us up to drive from Dresden to Glashütte ( about 35 minutes) and parked in front of this nice building




Nice view from the top floor



Better pictures from the watches will of course follow



First a little introduction with Christine who I already knew, Rainer ( Director of communication) and Jean-Pierre ( Brand Manager).


A little more about the history of the brand : ( copy from their website)

MORITZ GROSSMANN : Carl Moritz Grossmann, the son of a mail sorter, was born in Dresden on 27 March 1826. There, he attended the Technical College for two years after having graduated from elementary school. Moritz Grossmann was fascinated by technology and the complexity of timepieces. Eager to discover new methods, he became a journeyman in 1846 and set out to acquire the world’s horological know-how. After sojourns in Hamburg and Munich, he was drawn to La Chaux-de-Fonds, the hub of Swiss watchmaking. He returned to Dresden in 1854 after stopovers in England, France, Denmark, and Sweden. Upon his arrival, he fulfilled a dream and established his own atelier. Moritz Grossmann, who was also acclaimed as an award-winning technical author, began to craft pocket watches, pendulum clocks, and precision measuring instruments — from innovative details to complete movements. But for Moritz Grossmann, Glashütte was more than merely the cradle of German watchmaking artistry. He dedicated his time to various associations and supported regional projects. From 1866 to 1878, he was committed to the welfare of the town of Glashütte, later also as a representative of the Royal Saxon Landtag. As an author, he was eager to pass on his knowledge; in 1878, he initiated the German School of Watchmaking and outlined the curriculum. The art of watchmaking permeated his life and was his greatest passion. He died unexpectedly on 23 January 1885 after delivering a speech about the introduction of World Time. Thereafter, his atelier was liquidated.



So it was a very important person for german watchmaking, just a Mr A. Lange was.
The new "Lange" started somewhere in the 1990's and is one of the brands in the Richmond group while Mortiz Grossmann is a bit younger and exists about 10 years but this is a real independent and does not belong to Richmond nor Swatch, LVMH ...
Grossmann is a small independent I believe 9 investors own the company. Probably 9 HUGE watch lovers with a great taste for art ...horological art

Anyway, let's start the tour

I saw quite a few manufactures in the past ( Patek, IWC, JLC, Zenith, ...) So it's nice if you can compare those things.
This time I was allowed to take pics as many as I wanted ... That is not the case when entering for example Patek / JLC / IWC . Most don't want you to take pictures inside their buildings.

Every manufacture has CNC machines.







some 'unfinished' parts



unfortunately I broke my SLR camera a few days earlier and I could use one from my brother , but as you can see, the pictures are not very well ( not the lens I needed)








Don't know the name of this machine but I'm sure most of you know what it is used for. I magnifies every tiny part a zillion times.
every part is compared to the original drawings and every single part must be perfect... I believe they check up to 1/100 or even sometimes 1/1000 of a mm ....
And if it's Made in Germany, it's know for the german gründlichkeit ... so forget about any tolerance
When the part is not exactly as they want, start again !







similar machines that measure pinions, wheels, plates, ...










some more parts ( still unfinished )















A few more machines for cleaning some parts and elektrolyse machinery









computers and CAD is a must to if you want to create and develop movements






don't exactly know what these are used for but it just looks so nice and somehow vintage




Finishing department
And this is what separates real haute horlogerie from the rest
This is what we want to see in our watches and this is mainly what we pay for







polishing a hand ... to a level I have NEVER seen before.
These hands are the most beautiful I ever saw. Know that it takes an entire day to make a set of hands. 1 entire day only for the hands, this gives you an idea what kind of watches we're talking about
Black polishing or mirror polishing , than changing them into a brown burgundy color








heating the hands one by one ... to give them the desired color





getting another color









and the result



As you can see the tip is not exactly the same as the end of the hand ... not exactly the same color
This happens with when things are done by hand
result ... start all over again , re polish the hand an do it again



Wheel snailing










5 stages from a raw component to a very good looking 3 band snailing






black polishing





not very visible on that picture but the difference between a balance and a 'polished' balance







tools to polish / drill the little holes in the balance




Tin block and wood for perfect black polishing









putting the moment in the case











Time for a little lunch and looking a bit closer at their art





Pics below are a mix between iPhone pictures and the SLR with the wrong lens :-)
It gives you an idea how beautiful and well made these watches are. I can only recommend you to try to see them in real life. You need to handle them, touch them, feel them,
wind them to really understand a Grossman wristwatch


I was impressed, and I mean really impressed.
It is difficult to compare brands because most of the times it is personal opinion and personal taste but what I saw in these 2 days was beyond my expectations
The level of finishing is a level of perfection you won't see often. Like said .. my personal opinion but a similar simple dress watch from Patek Philippe (Calatrava), Breguet, Lange ( Saxonia, 1815,...)
Vacheron, or any of the other big and well known brands doesn't give me the feeling I got when looking at a Moritz Grossmann

My absolute dream dress watch is the Atum in red gold ... I don't believe I ever saw a more beautiful simple dress watch
For those that know me, I call it the Patek 5070 among the dress watches :-)

1 day work for the perfect set of hands, reminds me to the master RW Smith.

The hand engraved movement is another entire day of work
The big brands I mentioned above do it with a machine and it takes probably less then 5 minutes ... this is done by hand, 1 movement per day !!
Hand engraved movement bridge ( and of course hand engraved balance cock)




First some extra pictures I took from their website. Pictures taken by a professional photographer with a professional camera give you a better
idea of the level of finishing



the balance, look at the polishing and beveling








again those hands







PERFECTION




checking the balance




polishing the sharp inner angles of a part of the tourbillon mechanism






so now to the watches ..













the model Benu power reserve






TOP movement !!!








same watch but in another dial and case color







My absolute PERFECT dress watch
the Atum in red gold with silver white dial
one day ....









The Tefnut






Personally I would go for the top finishing shown already above BUT if you want a cheaper solution, some watches are available with a more regular finishing and in a steel case
Forget about 3 band sailing, no hand engraved balance cock nor hand engraved 3/4 plate, no colored screws, no gold chatons ....
But after all it does have the same in-house movement and it still has a pretty nice sandblasted look finishing





And this for the price of a Rolex deapsea is imo still worth considering
After all you own a watch made by an independent that makes less than 300 watches per year.



the top level finishing movement in the gold Tevnut






Some for the ladies / woman










Again a few with the steel case and the less finished movement. also known as the Atum 'Pure M'











this one is special too ... not my favorite but I know a few guys who absolutely love it
The PVD Atum Pure M with in-house made mesh-dial








The Benu Tourbillon ( 3 minutes tourbillon)
Pics do not do justice to the beauty of this movement








A few pics I took from their website
Do you notice the brush made of human hair ? This mechanism make sit possible to stop the tourbillon if you want to adjust the watch




The tourbillon cage



German Silver ( as used for every movement, not only the tourbillon), and some stunning mirror polishing



Look at the piece of wood


THE PINION BREAK MADE OF GUAIACUM

An additional wheel extends the periodicity of the cage to three minutes, thus reducing overall kinetic energy and the exposure of the escapement to stress. The pinion for the seconds is segregated from the power flow of the wheel train and driven with reduced torque. To prevent arbor and seconds-hand backlash, the pinion is constantly braked by a spring. Grossmann’s watchmakers designed this function in a sustainable and maintenance-free manner by choosing guaiacum, a very oily wood with the highest degree of hardness (“rock-hard”), for the brake ring of the fourth-wheel arbor. This solution was inspired by the extremely dependable marine and tower clocks that carpenter John Harrison crafted in the 18th century thanks to his insights into the properties of different wood species.




notice how the wheels are finished .... polishing INSIDE the teeth





A nice detail , white sapphire instead of red rubies





I'm sure many of us never heard about this brand before and I'm even more sure most of us never had the chance to see one
All I can say is, I was impressed.
The hand engraved plate, the polished teeth of the wheels, the hands are a work of art on their own, the German silver, beveling, ...
This is a kind of finishing I don't see on similar watches ( same price) offered by the big and well know brands... Yes I'm talking about Vacheron, Patek, Lange, Breguet....

The fact that they only make about 300 watches per year with more or less 40-45 people also gives something extra to the watch

Is you want something beautiful, something rare and original, something where they put a lot of attention in everything you can imagine ... Take a closer look at these watches before you buy another one from the big brands



Finally I would like to thank Christine Hutter, Rainer Kern and Jean-Pierre Grisel for giving me this exceptional experience
It were 2 days I will never forget
And I hope to see you again the day I do buy MY Moritz Grossman Atum in red gold .... just a matter of budget right now

for the people interested in history ...
These are pictures I took in the Glashutte museum. Some Grossman watches made more than 100 years ago

[TheLupus]

Thanks very much!

[harleygraf]

Very interesting - thank you!
My apologies but I didn't knew so much about this brand until now....

[Sascha]

Hinweis: Der Inhalt dieses Beitrags wurde auf Verlangen des Nutzers gelöscht.

[nominator]

Thanks very much for those phantastic pics. I appreciated each and am deeply impressed by the craftsmanship there. Wow!

[ehemaliges mitglied]

Thank you very much! Simply amazing!

One (maybe stupid) question: What ist the push button at 04:00 a clock good for?

[unknown]

Mythbuster, this is not a stupid question !

It's a feature that helps adjusting the time ...

Like every watch you pull out the crown, the watch stops and you can set the hands at the exact time. With this watch the crown automatically goes back to it's original position but you still can move the hands.
Now, when you push that little button the watch starts running again.

With other watches (watches without such a feature ) it does happen you accidentally remove the minute hand by 1 or 2 minutes backwards or forward when you push the crown back into the case.
Here you don't have to push the crown back in the case so you cannot move the hands anymore

Also it is better the crown is only open for a very short period of time, so dust can't go into the movement

[ehemaliges mitglied]

Thank you very much! Nice feature, indeed!

It is a little bit like the zero minute / second reset feature at my Glashütte Original Regulator.

Do you know how much the Benu Tourbillon costs? This would be a great piece for my "Regulator Collection" ...

[unknown]

Thank you very much! Nice feature, indeed!

It is a little bit like the zero minute / second reset feature at my Glashütte Original Regulator.

Do you know how much the Benu Tourbillon costs? This would be a great piece for my "Regulator Collection" ...

Well tourbillon a are unfortunately very expensive as we know
Think about the same as a Journe tourbillon

Their other watches like the Benu and Atum are about the same as a Lange saxonia or 1815, or a Patek calatrava

The steel Atum with lesser finished movement are about the same as a deepsea Rolex

I believe these are very reasonable prices for the work they put in each piece

[bb007]

Thanks a lot for taking us with you!
Quite nice watches they produce. How did you get the chance to visit the manufacturer? I'm still waiting for an invitation to Lange&Sons...

[unknown]

Thanks a lot for taking us with you!
Quite nice watches they produce. How did you get the chance to visit the manufacturer? I'm still waiting for an invitation to Lange&Sons...

About 8 weeks ago I met their CEO and Founder Christine Hutter. We had a nice dinner and of course talked a lot about watches. I gave he army telephone number and email address, I got her details. Not much later she invited me for a visit to the manufacture :-)

[ehemaliges mitglied]

Well, right now I am on the list for the "Große Lange 1 Lumen" which should I get in six months ... and well, this one is really beautiful ... so maybe I should ask my dealer if he can make me an offer ... perhaps instead of the Lumen ... because I love Regulator dials and I have no tourbillon yet ...

[Flopi]

Thanks for the great report. I had the chance to see the watches live during last year's Munich Time exhibition and have been impressed by the level of craftsmen ship they "invest" into their movements. The entire concept remembers a lot to the beginnings of Lange & Söhne. But is this surprising? If I recall correctly Christine Hutter worked for Lange & Söhne when I visited Glashuette for the first time back in 2000.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for my bank account) I don't really like the proportions of the watches. They build quite high for a dress watch with a handwound movement.

[ehemaliges mitglied]

Hier ein Link zur Homepage, die sehr gut gemacht ist ... inkl. Katalog Download: http://www.grossmann-uhren.com/

[Mr. Crown]

Tolle Uhren, toller Bericht. Vielen Dank!

Aber findet ihr nicht auch, dass das Firmenlogo stilistisch nicht ganz zu den Uhren passt?

Wenn man sieht, welch handwerklicher und ästhetischer Aufwand bei Grossmann betrieben wird, dann fällt die "Ästhetik" des Firmenlogos doch deutlich dagegen ab. Eigentlich sehr schade.

[The Banker]

Danke für den detailierten Bericht !

Mit 300 Uhren p.a. und der Mitarbeiterzahl wird man wohl kaum den turn around schaffen. Und sich als Erstes so ein Bauwerk hinzusetzen - Respekt...

[max mustermann]

Verträgt eigentlich der Markt noch so eine hochpreisige Luxusuhrenmanufaktur, deren Geschichte (falls vorhanden) niemand kennt?

Wenn es so sein sollte, dass sie qualitativ einer Patek oder Lange gleichzusetzen ist, ist das schön, interessiert aber IMHO fast niemand.

[ehemaliges mitglied]

Na ja, kommt halt darauf an, ob man die Uhr oder den Namen kaufen will ...

[The Banker]

In dem Preissegment sowohl als auch .

[Flopi]

In dem Preissegment sowohl als auch .

Ab und an auch nur die Uhr
Als ich 1996 meine erste Lange 1 erstanden habe, haben mich sämtliche Geschäftspartner in Asien mitleidig angesehen und gefragt, warum ich für das Geld nicht ne goldene Rolex gekauft habe.
Leider gibt es für mich einen großen Unterschied zwischen Lange und Großmann: die Lange 1 fand ich auf den ersten Blick faszinierend. Die Technik, das Handwerkliche und die Geschichte dahinter faszinierten mich dann zusätzlich. Die Großmann-Uhren hingegen sprechen mich optisch gar nicht an. Eigentlich schade, da die Werke schon ganz großes Kino sind.